Introduction

Dr. Azhar Hussain was a famous psychiatrist and professor who worked at the Nishtar Hospital in Multan, Pakistan. Shortly after retirement in 2015, he started his own private clinic and he started seeing patients there. He was suspected to have suffered from mental illness shortly after what transpired between him and his daughter. He had only one child – Dr Alizey.

Dr. Alizey Haider was the daughter of Dr. Hussain. She was also a doctor and was practicing in her father’s clinic in the evenings. Dr. ALizey was married to another doctor and was the mother of three children – one son and two daughters.

Relationship Between Dr. Azhar and Dr. Alizey

The father and daughter got along well. Dr. Alizey was an only child and her father loved her dearly; In fact, they were inseparable according to everyone who knew them. Being an only daughter, Dr. Alizey was doted upon by her parents, especially her father and even built and gifted her a house near his home so she could live right next to him. She used to call her “Pinkey”, a pet name Dr. Azhar used for her instead of her real name. He used to be extremely fond of Dr. Alizey’s children as well.

Dr. Alizey also had a fantastic relationship with her father. She had decided to become a psychiatrist herself at the insistence of her father. Reportedly, after Dr. Alizey got married she was made to promise by her father to text her father every morning to let him know she was okay and she never missed – not even once.

By all accounts, Dr. Azhar was an amicable fellow with no crime records or even any blemish that might tarnish his name. He was charitable, religious, and more importantly, had a great relationship with Dr. Alizey. So what happened that drove a doting father to kill his daughter, whom he loved very much.

The Day of the Tragic Incident

On 22nd of January, 2021, during the height of corona lock-downs, Mrs. Azhar left her home pick up their daughter from her home. While she was leaving, Mr. Azhar told his wife to get gas while she was on the way to Dr. Alizay’s house and not after because he did not like his beloved daughter having to wait at the gas station. Mrs. Azhar came back with Dr. Alizay and her three children. The father and daughter met as he he had never seen each other in ages.

Mrs. Azhar’s Testimony

Dr. Alizey was picked up by her mother and brought to her parent’s house because she was leaving to another city for her FCPS exams and she was going to leave her children with their grandparents. They would be babysitting their children for the few days she would be in another city for her final exams.

Death of Dr. Alizey

Dr. Alizey went to her room to prepare for her trip and Mrs. Azhar her grandchildren to the kitchen to get them some breakfast. While she was busy with the children, Mrs. Azhar left a loud explosion from Dr. Alizey’s room. She went running to her daughter’s door and saw Dr. Azher leaving Dr. Alizey’s room looking like a ghost. Upon questioning, Dr. Azher said flatly, “I fired the gun.” She asked again, “Where did you hit?”, this time almost convulsing while she did it. He replied with a weak, “On the roof,” and left for his room.

When she entered the room, she saw her daughter drenched in blood. She started wailing and ran for help. With the help Dr. Azhar’s brother, who worked close by, she carried her daughter to her car and took her to Nishtar Hospital, where Dr. Azhar had worked all his life. She had a gunshot wound on her neck and died before she died before reaching the hospital. Dr. Alizay was only 35 years old at the time of her death.

Dr. Azhar’s Suicide

She returned back home with the body of her daughter and found that Dr. Azhar had locked himself inside his room. She immediately called the police who busted the door open pry bars. Upon entering, she saw Mr. Azhar collapsed to the ground, with a single gunshot wound to the head. Mrs. Azhar collapsed shrieking. In the span of a few hours, her life had turned upside down.

Motive: Accidental Homicide or Murder?

Mr. Azhar would have never harmed anyone, is the testimony from everyone who knew the family. Everyone knew that the two had a special bond and that the father would lay down his life for hers. He would not even hurt her unintentionally, let alone kill her in cold blood. So what was the cause of Dr. Alizey’s death? Was it an accidental homicide where she was shot when the gun misfired? Or was there something sinister going on that no one knew about?

The Accidental Theory

The people who knew the family, including Mrs. Azhar and the husband of Dr. Ailzay, would unanimously agree that it was accidental. There was no other explanation as to why a loving father who put his daughter above everything else would shoot his daughter. Dr. Azhar was the type of man who would pick up twigs from the garden so that the children would not be hurt while playing. One explanation that he was cleaning the gun and it went off. If he did accidentally shoot Dr. Alizey, why would he take his gun from his room, walk to his daughter’s room, and accidentally shoot her? How is that possible?

The Murder Theory

The only explanation is that Mr. Azhar murdered his own daughter. Maybe there was something brewing in the family that led to this fateful day. During the investigation, a number of suspicious factors would come to light, some of which inevitably pointed towards the theory that Dr. Alizey was murdered by her father.

Mental Health Issues

According to Mrs. Azhar, the doctor was suffering from extreme phobia of the coronavirus. He had refused to leave the house completely, even after the lockdowns were lifted from the country. For months, Dr. Azhar had isolated himself from society and was living a reclusive life, cocooned inside the confines of his house.

“He neither visited relatives nor allowed them inside the house. He even started diagnosing patients through the phone,” said Mrs. Azhar. He had also bought cartons of surgical masks and sanitizers to keep the family safe. Dr. Alizey’s husband would later testify that Mr. Azhar was suffering from mental health issues himself but he refused to have himself checked. The family believed that the isolation and seclusion exacerbated his mental health issues and the situation got so aggravated that it resulted in him shooting his daughter and then himself.

Family Secrets

Mrs. Azhar asserted that she and her husband were living on amicable terms and did not have any disagreements or fights. However, the investigation that followed the murder-suicide would tell another story.

During the investigation, the detective in charge of the investigation would uncover a deeply-hidden family secret. Mr. Azhar had allegedly took another wife named Kaneez Fatima, an assistant of his at the clinic, in 2016 and kept it a secret from the family until 2018. In 2018, his first wife, Mrs. Azhar, found out about his second wife and started harassing Kaneez Fatima. Due to increasing pressure from Mrs. Azhar, Mr. Azhar divorced his second wife and the two separated amicably by mutual consent.

It might be the case that on that fateful day, his daughter found about his affair and he killed her for some reason. This is the most plausible theory according to the investigators. However, there was no evidence that would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Azhar murdered his daughter because she found out about the affair. Since there were no other leads, the investigation focused on this aspect but it also proved to be a dead end since both parties who could testify were deceased.

Third Death in the Family

The case became even more complicated when the brother of Dr. Azhar, Dr. Mohib Saleem was found dead in his own home. The doors were all locked from the inside and when the police pried open the doors, the found the body of Dr. Mohib burned beyond recognition. At the time of his death, he was alone in the house.

The investigation canvassed the vicinity of Dr. Mohib’s house and found CCTV footage of him buying gasoline in gas cans the day he took his own life. Police would rule it as a suicide by self-immolation as no evidence of foul play was found citing the motive as depression due to coronavirus lockdowns, the suicide of his brother, Dr. Azhar, and the murder of his niece, Dr. Alizey.

Final Thoughts

The tragic incidents took place within a ten-day period and the family was devastated by the events. The three incidents were connected in a shrouded way that the investigation team failed to uncover. It is clear that there was something dark brewing behind the scenes which the investigation team failed to notice or ignored due to save face. The case remains unsolved to this day.